Contemporary trends reflect growing forms of contestation and fragmentation in the international system. Armed conflicts, political and economic crises, fast-paced technological transformations and the revival of great power competition are straining both the spirit and the practice of multilateral cooperation.
International objectives, from sustainable development to the fight against climate change and the governance of Artificial Intelligence (AI), are meanwhile slipping from the global agenda, just as the implications of these transformations are growing harder to ignore.
Amidst a rapidly transforming international environment, the International Relations and Global Politics (IRGP) program at the American University of Rome (AUR), in cooperation with the IRGP Student Club, is pleased to host a three-day international conference in March 2025 to take stock of these present complexities and reflect on the implications of a slowly emerging multipolar system.
Structured around a series of academic presentations and roundtable discussions, as well as field trips to Rome-based International Organizations and a range of student-led debates, the conference will gather 70-80 participants from a range of Rome- and Europe-based Universities to tackle this multifaceted problem from a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives.
Specific themes will include progress and backsliding on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the broader UN reform agenda, the promise and perils of harnessing big data and AI for food security, as well as multilateral efforts to combat climate change.
All these aspects will be contextualized in the growing fragmentation of the international system amidst a hesitant revival of block alliances and a parallel fraying of international law and human rights frameworks amidst new and ongoing conflicts in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Overview of Agenda
Centered around the macro theme of global transitions and the fraying of international norms and cooperation, the international conference will run for three full days (12, 13 and 14 March, 10am-7pm approx.). Held during AUR’s Spring Break, the conference will take place in the AUR Auditorium and Garden, with several breakout classrooms reserved for student-led activities that will take place after the field trips on Day 2 of the conference.
Day One
The first day will examine the re-emergence of great power competition and reflect on the ensuing contestation and fragmentation of the international system.
Speakers include a keynote speech by Nathalie Tocci, Director of the International Affairs Institute (IAI) and former Special Advisor to the EU’s HR/VP for Foreign and Security Policy, followed by a roundtable debate among former ambassadors, academics, and representatives of leading international NGOs on the crisis of international law amidst the revival of armed conflicts.
After lunch, invited speakers will present on aid disbursements and official development assistance flows, addressing the worrying uptake in global crisis situations and underfunding for international emergencies, as well as the use of big data and early warning technologies to predict and react to the onset of extreme hunger and famine.
Finally, participants will hear from the real-world experience of using opensource satellites and GIS software to map escape routes for Ukrainian refugees fleeing the conflict. The day will conclude in the AUR Garden for an evening aperitivo, social events and planning activities for the academic field trips organized for the second day of the conference.
On Day 2, students will meet with their designed group professor at the assigned meeting point on the morning of 13 March to participate in the academic field trips. Designated visits will include a range of Rome-based International Organizations and Institutions, from government entities to UN and EU agencies, think tanks and NGOs, each providing unique viewpoints on the global system.
Upon returning to AUR for lunch and the Group Photo, delegations will convene in designated break-out classrooms to discuss the field trip and elect designated speakers from the group to present in the student plenary to be held in the Auditorium later that afternoon.
The day will conclude with a student-led exchange of views on the various perspectives provided through the field visits and a final debate hosted by the AUR Debate Club before the evening aperitivo.
Day Three
On the final day, participants will look deeper at the implications of multipolarity, examining disparate viewpoints on the great transitions underway in the international system. This will include a keynote address by a former or current foreign policy official and a further roundtable discussion with leading academics, policy and area experts to discuss the alternative futures and priorities of such a system.
After lunch, a series of presentations will focus on the myth and reality of de-dollarization in the global economyamidst revived talk of block alliances and heightened US-China competition, as well as providing an overview of proposals to reform the UN Security Council, the status of the SDG Agenda 2030 and of multilateral efforts to combat climate change.
The conference will conclude with a cultural activity and/or a movie screening in the Auditorium, before the final aperitivo and Certificate Awarding Ceremony in the Garden.
For further information, please reach out to the Scientific Coordinator, Professor Andrea Dessí at a.dessi@aur.edu